login
 Swim
Comments: Swim was a little rough at first then cleared out. The problem was that when it cleared out it was because I was off course. This is the second race in a row where i ran into one of the boats. I've got to site more often. At one point I realized I was off course, adjusted, and swam across the pack, running into more than one person. I'm certain I could have been more middle of pack if I went straighter. The only other issue was that I was really thirsty. Partly this was the salt water, partly it was a lack of water before the race. What would you do differently?: Sight better, take disposable water to the swim start.  Transition 1
Comments: Wet suit strippers took some time getting me unhooked in the back, little issue with the arms, this was only my second wetsuit race and first with sleeves. I took my time getting on the bike and getting a little water in me. I was pretty thirsty and knew I was loosing time but it was ok. Bike mount went very smooth. My garmin was in transit back from being repaired so I was using runkeeper and started it slightly after getting on the bike. What would you do differently?: Nothing realy. My fitness isn't where I want it yet. I'm ok with a couple of extra minutes in Transition if I can get my heart rate down some.  Bike
Comments: The first mile was pretty slow as I was getting up to speed and getting runkeeper started. Plus this section of the course is the most technical with a turn every block or 2 or 4. I had a pretty strong saltwater taste in my mouth so I started drinking water, it wasn't helping a ton so I took a gel mostly just to clear the salt taste.. but the nutrition probably didn't hurt. On the way out I was getting passed a lot. I had the wind in my face, and the force of gravity against me. As a clyde sized fellow I feel like I'm slowed by a headwind more than the smaller folks.... but really I need a lot more T.I.T.S. (Time in the saddle). Once we got to the turn around I felt like I really picked up speed and started to fly..well not fly, but my speed jumped about 25%. I still got passed, but not as quickly, and I overtook a few of the people who had passed me. I heard a couple of gunshots at one point some one said they saw someone shooting a shotgun in a field. Once we caught up to the sprint course on the way back I started passing a lot more people. What would you do differently?: More T.I.T.S. I've got to just work the bike a lot harder. Transition 2
Comments: I took my time here. I already had everything in my racebelt and just clipped it on. I stopped runkeeper but didn't bother swapping it to track my run splits. What would you do differently?: Get my garmin back. Getting better bike legs would have me fresher coming off the bike and I could move through T2 faster.  Run
Comments: I had really hoped to be able to run significantly more of this race than I did Houston. In fact I had really hoped to run all of it. This was not to be. However I did run most of the race and believe I ran more of the race than I walked. But usually in only 1/4th mile segments at a time. I pushed pretty hard at times, but I wasn't able to keep the pace up. I took water at most stops, took the on course sports drink a few times, and ate 3 of the honey stinger candies just before one of the water stops. And had a gel a while later. There was one run / walker who got off the bike before me who I passed before I started my first running section. I saw him through out the race and had hoped to finish ahead of him, just as a target. He had gotten about 1/4th of a mile ahead of me as we both ran/walked the entire course. In the last half mile or so I pushed pretty hard and managed to pass him, but he came back at a faster pace and finished about a minute ahead of me... still it is always good to have someone who seems simmilar in ability to use to push yourself. What would you do differently?: Race execution was not my problem. I need to really build my fitness to handle the distance fully. Post race
Warm down: Felt sick to my stomach pretty quickly after the race. I drank a bottle of cold water, sat down in the shade and watched the qualifiers getting there certificate to go to the nationals. After eating some of the burrito and feeling better I got my bike and rode back to transition. What limited your ability to perform faster: Fitness. Nutrition isn't really an issue for me on these courses. I just need to have better overall fitness. Event comments: This is the WTC. I kind of expected more fan fare, swag, and presentation. There was nothing wrong with the way the race was run. And in fact it was better organized than some of the races I've done this year. But, it wasn't as well run as the Onurmark events such as Kemah, Bridgeland, and Houston. In addtion the field size was pretty small, so I hope the race returns next year. Last updated: 2011-10-02 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
5150 Triathlon Series
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 344/383
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 47/49
Since the packet pickup and mandatory bike check in were the day before we stayed next door to Moody Gardens at the Inn at the Waterpark. The hotel was adequate, but not something I would consider for a romantic getaway.
We drove down mid day Saturday and had a lot of traffic but still got there with time to get checked in.
I ran into Philip Shama at checkin, though he wasn't racing. He had done my fitting about 2 months ago and I probably should go back sometime.
I had decided to use my Cell Phone hard case, and my phone fell out of the clip for it on the way back from packet pickup. I found the phone in lost and found, but trashed the belt clip for the hard shell.
After everything was settled in it's place (Bike in transition, wife in hotel, number on belt) I took my wetsuit over and did a quick swim on the ocean side of the island. This was the first time I'd swam in salt water since April, and only the second time I would swlm in my new wetsuit). The waves on that side are pretty sizeable. It made for an interesting swim, but I only did about 15 minutes as the plan was really just to test the waters... or me in the waters as the case maybe.
There was a little drama Saturday night with my wifes ability to complete some work she had planned to do from the hotel and I ended up being awake a little too late.
I got up at around 4:30, I was going to eat a breakfast sandwich I bought, but it was a little heavier than I thought so I ate some peanut butter crackers and took a banna with me. I got ready and walked over to transition. I wasn't real sure of where I was going, but followed the crowd (though I was early so there wasn't a huge crowd) and got everything set up.
Then I started to walk over to the swim start. The problem was that the park was dark, and the workers at moody didn't seem to know what was going on. So it took a while to find where the swim start and the chip strap was.
Really wasn't a good chance to do a warm up. Other than putting on my wetsuit, and wandering around before the swim start where I saw one member of my swim group and Keri Kadi. We did get to jump in the water a few mins early and tread water.